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Changing Perspectives on Citizen Science Using Ebird Data on Grand Bahama Island, the Bahamas

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Changing Perspectives on Citizen Science Using Ebird Data on Grand Bahama Island, the Bahamas MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Ancilleno Davis Candidate for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ______________________________________ James T. Oris, Co-Advisor ______________________________________ R. Hays Cummins, Co-Advisor ______________________________________ David Russell, Reader ______________________________________ Mary Henry, Reader _______________________________________ Thomas Crist, Committee Member ______________________________________ Jing Zhang, Graduate School Representative ABSTRACT CHANGING PERSPECTIVES ON CITIZEN SCIENCE USING EBIRD DATA ON GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS. by Ancilleno O. Davis Citizen science has broadened the scope of biodiversity monitoring and research. Citizen scientists visit more locations, more often and collect data on more species than any single study can. They have fewer restrictions related to funding, scheduling and political will. They create more data than ever before, especially in remote locations such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). However, citizen science uses traditional science perspectives in data analysis; acknowledging the perspectives of the citizen scientist is important when making conservation decisions based on citizen science data. I use novel perspectives that make citizen science data more useful/powerful. I focus on 16 native bird species and 20 migrant species of international concern using volunteer observations from the open access eBird database. Using forestry maps and satellite data, I created a new, adaptable, classified habitat map for Grand Bahama and appended the habitat data to eBird observations for the island. Observer effort was significantly higher in beach and grass habitats. I found most of the focal species in this study outside their documented habitat type. Bird species richness and observer richness differed significantly among habitat types. Bird species composition was significantly influenced by habitat type and survey effort. Mantel tests showed significant correlation between geographic locations and both bird species dissimilarity and observer dissimilarity. The Mantel tests also showed significant correlations between observer community differences and species community differences. I used Moran’s I to determine spatial autocorrelation of observer effort and recorded species diversity within the dataset. Observer richness and the total number of surveys were negatively spatially autocorrelated in the overall dataset. I found that observer community similarity showed significant effects on recorded survey effort and species diversity in most habitats. CHANGING PERSPECTIVES ON CITIZEN SCIENCE USING EBIRD DATA ON GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS. A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Biology by Ancilleno O. Davis The Graduate School Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2018 Dissertation Directors: James T. Oris & R. Hays Cummins © Ancilleno Orlando Davis 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS General Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 Study Area ............................................................................................................................................ 2 eBird Data ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Habitat data ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Open-Source, Open-access commitment .................................................................................. 3 Chapter 1: Combining citizen science and open source geospatial techniques improves habitat knowledge for Bahamian birds ..................................................................... 4 Abstract (250-300 words) ............................................................................................................... 4 Abstracto (Español) .......................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Study Area ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Logging and Habitat Protection .............................................................................................. 8 Habitats in this study ................................................................................................................... 9 Habitat use of avian focal species from the literature ................................................. 12 Citizen science bird data ......................................................................................................... 12 Habitat descriptions in EBD data........................................................................................ 12 Satellite-derived habitat map ................................................................................................ 13 Methods .............................................................................................................................................. 14 Assigning habitat type to eBird observations ................................................................. 14 Calculating differences in diversity .................................................................................... 14 Results ................................................................................................................................................. 14 Literature-based habitat use of focal species .................................................................. 14 Satellite-derived habitat map ................................................................................................ 14 Citizen science bird data ......................................................................................................... 18 Discussion ........................................................................................................................................... 25 Habitat classification accuracy and potential improvements................................... 25 Literature vs. eBird-based habitat use .............................................................................. 26 Precision, accuracy, and resolution in citizen science data ....................................... 27 Potential drawbacks from and improvements to citizen science efforts .............. 27 Impact on logging/forest management .............................................................................. 28 Future Work ..................................................................................................................................... 28 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................... 28 iii Tables .............................................................................................................................................. 30 Chapter 2: Bird Species Diversity and Dissimilarity and their Relationships to Habitat and Observer Variation on Grand Bahama, The Bahamas .............................. 37 Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 37 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 37 Methods .............................................................................................................................................. 39 Species and Observer Diversity ............................................................................................ 39 Bird Species Composition ....................................................................................................... 40 Mantel tests ................................................................................................................................... 40 Moran’s I ....................................................................................................................................... 40 Results ................................................................................................................................................. 41 Mantel tests ................................................................................................................................... 49 Moran’s I with geographic distance ................................................................................... 51 Discussion ........................................................................................................................................... 52 Mantel tests ................................................................................................................................... 53 Moran’s I ....................................................................................................................................... 54 Summary ......................................................................................................................................
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